Here is one response to the article by Dave Collins in the July 7 The Advocate paper. The article is titled “Killings spur new look at gun seizure laws.”

One of the supporting data points mentioned is the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. These killings, while a tragedy, would not have been prevented by confiscating the killer’s guns since he did not own any. I am not sure his mother’s guns could be confiscated legally because she was not a perpetrator, but ultimately a victim herself.

I am an engineer and not a lawyer, but when someone proposes that the government confiscate guns owned by another person (the mother of the killer at Sandy Hook), I think the government would be going way beyond its authority.

While I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment and believe legal citizens have the right to own guns, I also believe the current laws, if enforced, are all we need. I also believe that confiscating guns could open the door to many other abuses by our government. Since many more people are killed with vehicles than with guns, does that mean the government will confiscate our vehicles? Or worse, since errors in health care kill about 10 times the number killed with guns, would the government prevent us from seeking health care? (The source of this data is the HealthGrades report of 2004.)

The main focus should be seeking the root cause of why people want to kill others and let us fix that first. Mental health issues are significant in this country and we tend to overlook this at times. Our whole society has become very stressed with all the politically correct mess. We need to stop and smell the roses we have, and those that get offended by some minor issues need to get a life. Our Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It does not guarantee happiness.

Let us all try to be better citizens and work to improve our society and not tear it down. Our forefathers seemed to have it mostly right and we should not destroy what has been working pretty well for more than 230 years.